


When She Was Good

by MissGuenever



Series: Extra Cargo [4]
Category: Firefly
Genre: Bad Days, Chinese Tea Ceremony, Crew as Family, Dr Horrible's Sing-Along, Family, Gen, Good Days, Loud Singing, Spanking, Tea, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:33:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25612120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissGuenever/pseuds/MissGuenever
Summary: A different side of the Extra Cargo 'verse. Short and fluffy; and involving everyone, Dr Horrible (just because), some really loud singing, and porridge.
Series: Extra Cargo [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1475975
Kudos: 2





	1. When She Was Good

**Author's Note:**

> Translations are at the end.

When she was good she was very very good; but, when she was bad she was horrid. Kaylee thought to herself as she watched Caroline eat her porridge. Actually eat the stuff; not whine, moan and fuss at it like she usually did. _Will miracles never cease_!

“I’m done. Can I go now? Miss ‘nara said I could watch the singing show when she brushed my hair.” Caroline asked holding up a mostly empty bowl of porridge.

Taking another swallow of coffee Kaylee looked over at the bowl. “One more bite. Mushing it around doesn’t make it all go away mei mei.”

Caroline glowered at the cereal; but, obediently took another bite. She showed the bowl to Kaylee and washed it in the bowl of wash water sitting in the sink. Rinsing it she stuck the hated porridge bowl on the towel next to Jayne’s bowl. 

“I’m gonna watch the singing show.” The smallest crew member announced before she headed to Inara’s shuttle. Kaylee watched her leave and decided to follow; Dr. Horrible or the ‘singing show’ as Caroline called it was pretty funny. And Billy was really swai!

She followed behind Caroline who was bouncing and singing at the top of her lungs “Bad horse, bad horse, bad horse, he’s bad.”

“Gorramit mini-Mal; you’re singing loud enough to wake the dead.” Jayne grumped as he stomped by on his way to do his morning weight lifting routine. 

His grumping only made Caroline giggle and sing louder “The evil league of evil is watching so beware.” She didn’t really get what the entire song meant; but, it was fun to sing; and behind her Kaylee started humming. It was a really catchy tune.

She watched Caroline careen to a stop in front of Inara’s door. Pause to collect herself, and genteelly knock.

“Who’s there?”

“Caroline. Miss Inara.” 

Inara opened the hatch and let both Caroline and Kaylee in. She was really pleased; the manners lessons were starting to make a difference in Baby Jayne’s behavior (as Simon called her when he was frustrated). “Greetings, Miss Caroline, Miss Kaylee.”

“Good morning Miss Inara.” Caroline echoed, her eyes straying towards the Cortex box mounted on the wall. 

Both the Companion and the mechanic saw Caroline’s eyes longingly looking at the screen. “Yes dear you may watch your program while I brush your hair. Did you finish your breakfast?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Caroline nodded. Kaylee flipped on the unit and found the latest episode of Dr Horrible. Inara thought he quite looked like the Captain; and found herself rather enjoying the weekly viewing of the ‘ _singing show_.’

After the first few days everyone had fallen into a routine with Caroline; and then River had brought up schooling and that had changed the routine. Every morning Caroline got up and had breakfast with Kaylee; sometimes River ate with them. Then Caroline went to Inara’s shuttle and got her hair brushed out and then fun with Jayne who was usually finishing his morning exercises. Inara loved listening to the sounds of the giggling happy little girl as she climbed Jayne like he was a piece of playground equipment and he tossed her around. After a little while of this Shepard Book or Simon would come and find her for lessons. Then lunch and dancing with River, or dinosaurs with Wash, or playing with Kaylee, or something fun. After that was one of Inara’s favorite times of day: teaching Caroline the formal tea ceremony. It brought her back to her days at the Companion training house; and had started her thinking about teaching.

Mal would sometimes barge in on tea; but, Inara could tell he just wanted to see his daughter. It was so sweet how he wanted to see her every little while and make sure she was okay. Sometimes River or Kaylee would join them for tea. And once Zoë had joined them; that was quite surprising. She said it brought back memories of childhood and her mother.

Then everyone would gather in the common area for the evening meal and the day would draw to a close.

“It's a brand new day. And the sun is high. All the birds are singing.” Inara’s thoughts were interrupted by Caroline singing; Kaylee joined in on the chorus, River opened the door and joined the other two girls. “That you're gonna die. How I hesitated. Now I wonder why. It’s a brand new day.”

“There bao bei, precious. You’re all brushed. Soon we’ll be able to put your hair into pigtails.” Inara gave the little girl a hug and watched her bounce out of the shuttle looking for Jayne. She could hear her calling for him.

Kaylee shook her head. “Cracks me up those two.” She scrambled up from her place on the floor; Inara had brushed her hair too. “Gotta go check on ‘Renity. Wash says the guidance controls are kinda mushy.”

“Bye mei-mei.” Inara smiled; she really enjoyed these few minutes. She could already hear the little girl squealing in joy. She had changed a lot in just a couple weeks; there were still times where insanity reigned.

Caroline made it through her lessons with Shepard Book; he told her how good she was doing and gave her a sticker. The brothers at the Abbey had given him some when he’d explained that he was teaching a youngster. Her writing was really improving, you could actually read most of the words she carefully printed; he did need to get some more writing paper when they were planet-side next time. Book reached for the book he was reading and watched the nian qing de, young one, bounce off to get ready for tea with Miss ‘Nara. She’d told him all about the purple sari that Miss ‘Nara had made for her; it was a practice dress to learn how to walk properly. And that the tea service shouldn’t rattle when you’re serving tea, that you weren’t supposed to touch the tea with your fingers, that Budai was the man on the top of Miss ‘Nara’s tea pot, and that during lessons she was sposed to address Miss ‘Nara as Lǎoshī ‘Nara to show her respect as a teacher. ‘Cause Lǎoshī meant teacher. And at the Companion training house that was what students called the teachers.

“Slow down, slow down.” Wash grunted as Caroline ran into him in the hall. “I’m a manly man; but, you are quite a tornado.”

“It’s tea time. I gotta change into my sari and find my slippers; cause you can’t wear shoes in red spaces.” Caroline yelled over her shoulder as she flew into her quarters riding the ladder down like a monkey.

“Red spaces?” Wash uttered looking quizzically at the wrench in his hand.

“Sacred space; honey.” Zoë murmered to her husband as she walked out of the common area munching on a biscuit. “She’s going to practice the tea ceremony with Inara.”

“We could go practice my love.” Wash waggled an eyebrow at his gorgeous Amazonian wife.

“Mmm…” She kissed him; took his and led the way to their small berthing space. “I like that.”

A couple minutes later Caroline stood breathlessly outside the hatch to Inara’s shuttle. She smoothed down her sari and tried to calm her hair which was flying four ways to Sunday. Least that is what Kaylee called it. She knocked at the hatch. “Lǎoshī Inara.” It took her a minute to carefully enunciate Inara; but, Miss Inara said that formalities were necessary when learning. An ba said she needed to ‘spect her elders. Ma always said the same thing too.

“Please come in xiăo, little Caroline.” Inara opened the door and welcomed Caroline into the confines of her shuttle. She watched with a critical eye as Caroline entered, removed her slippers, and bowed to the lǎoshī, teacher, and then to the shrine. Inara bowed back to Caroline and then gestured her to the sitting area. 

Caroline was still having a lot of trouble walking in the sari; the slim skirt wouldn’t let her run or walk. She kind of had to skitter along taking itty bitty steps. Jayne had laughed at her after dinner the night before when she’d been practicing; said she looked like a little bug skittering on the water. Five steps to the sitting area; Caroline started walking and rose up on her toes.

“No, no. Like this.” Inara lifted her skirt a little to show Caroline how her feet and legs moved. Caroline tried to imitate her. “Keep your tongue in your mouth xiăo Caroline; and smile. Glide.”

Caroline tried and while it felt really weird she didn’t fall over like she had last night. She made it over to the table; it was ten steps and kneeled the way Inara had been showing her.

The graceful companion smiled. “Much better.” 

Inara was really pleased with how well Caroline was doing. Some days were better than others; but, for only a few days of training she was picking it up. Formal companion training usually started at thirteen and lasted for five or six years; but, those who didn’t have a parent that had been a companion they needed to start at ten or eleven to be able to keep up. 

“Today we’re going to work on making tea.” Inara carefully scooped leaves into the pot. “Never touch the leaves.” She showed Caroline the delicate bamboo scoop that moved the leaves from their metal container into the clay tea pot. 

“The water needs to be boiling; but, not making giant bubbles.” She then poured the steaming water into the small clay tea pot with exaggerated gestures; mimicking the motions that her teachers had made when she’d been a student. “First we need to warm the tea pot.”

Caroline watched with rapt attention. Once she’d gotten over the intimidation factor associated with the professional companion; Inara had become one of her favorite people on board Serenity next to her ba, Book, Jayne, Kaylee, River, Wash, and Zoë. Pretty much everyone but the Doc was her favorite person. She really didn’t like Simon; he stuck needles into River. The companion poured the hot water into the pot with Budai on the lid. Inara then immediately poured the new tea into the two little cups on the tray. “Xiăo Caroline this is to season the tea cups; we won’t be drinking this brew.” Inara paused for effect and gracefully set the pot down on the tray. “Do you remember this from last week?”

“Shia, yes Lǎoshī Inara. I ‘member. Next you pour this out and make new tea using the same leaves.” Caroline eagerly said.

“Yes; that is correct. Tea leaves will brew three pots of tea; the first warm the pot, the second seasons the cups, and the third you serve to your guests.” Inara was very careful with her wording; the tea ceremony could be used for many things including companion clients, or business meetings. She poured the first brewing into a bowl set beside the table and refilled the pot for the second brewing. “How long do we brew the third pot for?”

 _Math_. Caroline wrinkled her nose; the Doc had been helping her with it. She thought hard and finally remembered what Inara had said yesterday. “The third pot brews for two minutes?”

Inara inclined her head a little. “Are you asking me? Or telling me? A key part of being successful is confidence.”

 _Frustrating_. Caroline knew what Inara wanted. “Telling.” She said with a head nod. “The third pot brews for two minutes; Lǎoshī Inara.”

“Yes, between two and three minutes. I like two minutes.” Inara poured the second pot into the cups. 

“This pot seasons the cups.” Caroline really wanted to show her teacher that she was learning.

“Very good; xiăo Caroline. What else does this pot do?” 

Caroline thought hard; and her face fell. “I don’t ‘member.”

The companion lifted her head up. “Not knowing is okay; you’ll learn in time. Smile, show a serene front even when you’re scared. This pot also warms the cups so that your guest’s tea won’t get cold as quickly.”

“Okay.” Caroline moved her hands around on her lap. She wasn’t used to kneeling this long.

“Formal language. Yes or no; no okays, uh huhs or nahs.” Inara poured the tea out of the two cups and into the bowl; and then refilled the small teapot for the third brewing.

“Yes, Lǎoshī Inara.”

Inara carefully placed the small ceramic cup into a lacquered holder that Caroline thought looked like a boat, filled it with jasmine tea, and offered it to the little girl. “This part is new; every time we’re going a little further in the ceremony. Last time we discussed brewing the tea. To accept the cup of tea bow your head; thank the host; and then take tea holder with both hands.”

Caroline bowed her head, and put out her hands trying to mimic the movements that Inara made look so easy. 

“Very good.” Inara smiled at her pupil. “Now to drink the tea, the tea cup holder goes in your left hand and the cup in the right. Like this.”

“Why are there only 2 drops of tea in the cup?” Caroline asked after she drank her three sips of tea. 

Inara smiled; she’d asked the same question of her teachers when she was young. “The tea ceremony is about the tea. The texture of the tea leaves, the temperature of the water, the process of brewing, the people, and the aroma. Drinking a lot of one would lessen the experience.”

“Huh, what if you’re thirsty?”

“Thirst does not apply to the tea ceremony. If you are thirsty after the ceremony have a glass of water.”

The companion recognized that at seven years old Caroline wasn’t going to absorb much more today. “You did very well today. We’ll practice again tomorrow.”

Inara gracefully rose to her feet and bowed to the shrine; and then to Caroline signifying that class was over. Caroline struggled to her feet and repeated the actions of her teacher; bowing to the shrine and then to her lǎoshī, teacher. She backed up, being very careful not to show Inara her back which would be disrespectful. When she got her slippers on she left the shuttle closing the hatch behind her; and as had become custom knocked on the door again. When Inara opened the door Caroline excitedly asked “Did I do good?”

“Bao bei, precious, you did great!” Inara wrapped her in a big hug. “You’ll get walking in a skirt soon; just keep practicing.” Inara was trying to separate the classroom from personal time which was why she had Caroline leave the shuttle and then come back in for her hug; it worked since there was nowhere to have a dedicated classroom.

Caroline’s face lit up with enthusiasm. “Thanks Miss ‘Nara.” And she bounced out to tell her ba about good she done. Today was a great day!


	2. But, when she was bad...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, if I was rewriting and editing again. I’d put this as my new chapter 8b right after When She Was Good. But, I suppose it could go really anywhere towards the end of the beginning chapters; but after the intro chapters.

When she was good she was very, very good; but, when she was bad she was horrid! Kaylee remembered the poem from when she child. Her mom used to say it about her and brothers. Well, except Ma would say he, she or they were horrid – depending on whom she was talking about.

“I ain’t eatin’ it.”

“Caroline, that’s breakfast. You don’t got much choice. What’s the Cap’n goin’ ta say?”

“Ain’t eatin’ that.” Caroline responded to Kaylee pushing the protein porridge away. “It’s gross. Tastes like pi gu, ass. An food taint that color. Ain’t natural, foods not grey. Only purple belly food is that color.”

Jayne looked up from sluping up his mush. “I ’gree with mini-Mal; but, its food. Better then goin’ hungry.”

Caroline stuck her spoon in the bowl and pulled it back out watching the grey stuff slide off it in unappetizing clumps. “I’ll go hungry then.”

“Xin gan, Cap’n said if’fn you didn’t eat it for breakfast you was eating it for lunch.” Kaylee said almost begging Caroline to eat. It had become the morning fight, the porridge.

Simon said he’d test her blood in a month or so and see if her blood counts were high enough so that he could give her a couple of vaccines and they’d call it all good. Because Serenity’s diet consisted of a lot of molded protein it gave everyone else enough vaccines and vitamins that they didn’t need shots; but, because Caroline had never had any vaccines she needed more of them. So porridge it was; and a fight it was becoming to get her to eat it!

“Nope. Ain’t eatin’ it.” The set of Caroline’s eyes and chin made Kaylee and Jayne both think of Mal when he set his mind on something.

“Come on, nian qing de, young one, eat your breakfast and then you can do fun stuff with River and me.”

Caroline was getting really really agitated. She’d managed to keep the Cap’n up for a chunk of the night with nightmares. He’d told that to Kaylee when he’d been getting a cup of coffee. And Kaylee could see Caroline wasn’t in a great mood, lack of sleep and bad dreams would do that to a little girl in a still kind of strange environment. 

“I.” Caroline hit the table with her spoon; punctuating each word. “Ain’t. Eating. That. Shit.”

“Language; Caroline.” Kaylee’s eyes narrowed a little. “Doc says you gotta.”

“Don’t care what that ching-wah tsao duh liou mahng, frog humping son of a bitch, says. I ain’t eatin’ it!”

Mal walked in just as Caroline was calling Simon all kinds of interesting things. “Caroline; you best quiet that mouth. I will wash it out with soap tao shen, naughty child.”

Caroline’s temper snapped and she picked up the hated bowl of porridge and chucked it at the wall. The bowl broke into three pieces and little chunks of grey porridge flew around common area. The little girl’s eyes widened and she flew from the table sprinting towards somewhere. Kaylee guessed it would her hidey-hole in the cargo bay.

Caroline saw the look in her ba’s eyes and knew that she needed to get to out of the common area really fast. A couple days ago he’d whupped her britches when she’d punched the fong luh, loopy in the head, doctor in the face. So she ran. Ran for her special place.

Mal reached out and grabbed Caroline around her waist as she tried to flee. “Eht. Eht. Little one. Nian qing de. You’re not going anywhere.”

Kaylee looked at her Captain and at the small struggling girl in his arms and fled the scene. She knew how to deal with her brothers. She knew how to deal with Jayne and his rough ways. She knew how to deal with River and her sometimes tetched ways. She knew how to relate to Shepard Book and his need for spiritualism. She could understand Inara and her sensual gracefulness; but, dealing with her captain, and his daughter who was in the midst of full-up tantrum was not something she wanted to deal with this early in the morning.

Serenity’s captain wasn’t too happy about being father at the moment. Fatherhood was supposed to be ice planets and cotton candy. Hair ribbons and mud pies. It wasn’t supposed to be rules, and discipline. It wasn’t supposed to be bed times and healthy meals. 

“No, no, no! Lemme go!” Caroline was shrieking as she worked herself up into a full-blown tantrum. Her legs were kicking, arms flailing, and her chest was heaving. Mal wrapped her into his arms; trapping her so that she couldn’t move; and making crooning sounds into her ear. 

“ _Juh jen sh guh kwai luh duh jean jan; this really is a happy day_.” Mal thought to himself as he carried Caroline over the rug in the common area. “ _What was Dr Spock’s advice on tantrums? Oh, yeah. Put them somewhere they can’t hurt themselves and let them go_.” He laid her down on the carpet and went back over to the dining area and started picking up the rest of the breakfast things. Caroline was going to clean up her mess and then they were going to have a little discussion. “ _Buddha, why couldn’t this be yesterday? She’d been a little angel all day_.”

Mal washed everyone’s breakfast dishes, even though he knew that eventually everyone would wash their own. He needed to keep busy until his daughter cried herself out. Dr Spock said that almost eight was really too old for tantrums; but, that major emotional upheaval could cause children’s ability to deal with frustration, anger, and change to decrease. Or some such gao se like that.

Jayne walked into the common area, grabbed a snack and shook his head. “What’d Mini-Mal get herself all worked up ‘bout this time?”

“Porridge.”

“Huh, can’t say I blame her. Stuff tastes like a gorram hou bi wa, monkey arm pit.” And with that he headed out find someplace a little quieter. 

Mal looked longingly at Jayne’s departing figure. It would be really nice to have a little piece and quiet. He turned his head towards Caroline; the fruit of his loins River had called her last night. She seemed to be quieting down, finally. “Come on baby girl.” Mal told her; trying to croon soothingly as he picked her up “Let’s put you back to bed for a little while.”

Caroline snuggled into his neck, now that she was all cried out. It made Mal really happy that she seemed to be starting to trust him. He started walking towards their quarters and out of the corner of his eye saw that her eyes were closing. That tantrum had taken a lot out of her. He was just about to head into their quarters to lay her down for a nap when Kaylee came bounding down the hall. 

“Cap’n, Cap’n. I gotta pull apart the inertial regulators so steering is going to be mushy for a while.”

Mal nodded and gestured toward the mostly asleep child in his arms. Kaylee nodded in agreement. 

“Cried herself out.” It wasn’t a question; but, a statement. Kaylee had watched enough children in her life to understand what had happened.

“Yuh, huh” Mal swung down into the compartment he shared with Caroline and laid her down in her bed; pulling the covers up over her small body. He’d have to talk to her about the tantrum later; they were not going to become a habit of hers. But, first he needed to talk with Kaylee.

An hour later and Kaylee had taken apart the inertial regulators and had explained what was wrong in Captain dummy-speak; so Mal at least had a clue of what was wrong. Wash was helping the perky mechanic with the seemingly endless web of wires that made up the regulator system. It was an electronic mechanical interface of some sort that Mal had no desire to understand. That was after all why he’d hired a genius mechanic! 

He headed towards their compartment to check on Caroline. How was he going to deal with this?

“Bu mian zhi ye chang jui jiac zhi ren xin. Only one who does not sleep learns how long the night is.” River warbled at him as she wandered down the passageway. 

Mal wrinkled his brow at her retreating figure. Well, he certainly understood what she was saying; last night had been a really long night. Girl might be a bit fractured in the brain-pan; but, she was creepy on target with her observations he thought as he swung down into his quarters.

“Hey ba.” Caroline looked up from her bed where she was flipping through the pictures in the book she’d gotten on Hillard. “You gonna read to me?”

“Not right now.” Mal sat down next to his daughter and took the book from her “We gotta talk about your behavior this morning. You know better than to throw tantrums.”

“Ain’t fair I gotta eat that grey gao se.” Caroline’s lip jutted out.

“You best be mindin’ your language. Ain’t gonna tell you again.”

“It ain’t fair it tastes like pi…” At the look she was getting Caroline snapped her mouth closed and instead finished “like like Jayne’s socks.”

“And the throwin’ things?” Mal figured he’d give her a chance to explain herself.

“I don’t like that stuff.”

Great, just great she was going to be stubborn about it. He pulled his daughter over his lap. “You ain’t gonna like everything that happens in life.” Mal closed his eyes for a second and smacked Caroline on the bottom “That don’t mean you getta throw things when you don’t get what you want.”

He smacked her bottom again and again until she was sobbing and promising to be good forever and ever. Mal didn’t believe that promise for a second, he’d made the same promise to his ma many times when she’d had him in a similar position. “I don’t wanna see or hear ‘bout you throwin’ things you ain’t supposed to be throwin’. Dong ma?” 

“Uh huh.” Caroline whimpered in between sobs. 

Mal laid a couple more swats to her bottom and then gathered up his little girl into a hug letting her cry into his red shirt. When she finally settled down he stood her on her feet. “No more tantrums, okay?”

Caroline nodded. She really didn’t want another spanking.

“Go on; you’ve got some cleaning to do.” He kissed his daughter on the top of her head and pointed up at the hatch. “You’re gonna clean up that broken crockery, and the rest of the common area.”

Caroline nodded and slowly climbed the ladder. When she was out of sight Mal sank down on her bed and put his head in hands. He was exhausted; and it wasn’t even mid-morning. Parenting was hard; was he doing right thing? Putting her in a corner didn’t work; she had fun in the corner making up little games and talking to Zoey. Ma used to spank him; and he turned out alright, he shrugged and headed up to see how the repairs on the inertial regulators were going. It wasn’t that big of deal if they were down right now; but, in atmo that could be disastrous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ba -- Father  
> Ching-wah tsao duh liou mahng – Frog humping son of a bitch  
> Dong ma? – Understand?  
> Fong luh – Loopy in the head  
> Gao se -- Shit  
> Juh jen sh guh kwai luh duh jean jan -- This really is a happy day  
> Nian qing de -- young one  
> Pi gu – ass  
> Tao shen -- naughty child

**Author's Note:**

> Bao bei: Precious  
> Lǎoshī: Teacher  
> Mei-mei: Little sister  
> Nian qing de: Young one  
> Shia: Affirmative  
> Swai: Handsome  
> Xiăo: Little
> 
> Dr. Horrible is stolen. Lock, Stock, and Barrel! And the songs are real. I am using a Chinese tea ceremony as what Inara is teaching Caroline; it is quite different than a Japanese tea ceremony; and both are very different than the European version of formal tea. I’m pretty sure I’ve taken some significant liberties with the rituals associated with the tea ceremony; but, I think I stayed true to Firefly ‘verse – I just couldn’t see Inara flooding a tray with hot water in her shuttle to warm the cups.


End file.
